The Office's Ellie Kemper To Star in NBC Comedy Pilot Brenda Forever

It seemed impossible that anyone could come into Dunder Mifflin and properly fill Pam's vacated reception chair. And then Ellie Kemper's Erin showed up, sweet, vulnerable and somehow sadly hilarious as she was, she managed to fill a gap among the staff and within the comedy that we never knew existed. With the series wrapping up, it wouldn't be especially surprising to learn that Kemper might be ready to pursue more feature roles, especially when you consider the success of some of the recent films in which she's appeared (Bridesmaids, 21 Jump Street). But she may be sticking around the small screen after all.

EW reports that Kemper has signed on for the lead in Brenda Forever, a comedy pilot on the works for NBC. Written by David Lampson and Andrew Leeds, the premise sounds like it should be a great fit for someone like Kemper:

Stories from Brenda Miller’s past and present are interwoven to give a unique portrait of how a chubby, awkward, but incredibly confident 13-year-old grew up to be a 31-year-old woman who still marches to the beat of her own drum.

Lampson and Leeds are executive producing, along with Peter Tolan (Rescue Me) and Michael Wimer.

The Office's cast is brimming with talent, and we'll hopefully be seeing more from all of the cast after the NBC comedy wraps up its final season this year. Meanwhile, this pilot sounds like a great fit for Kemper, who has not only demonstrated her comedic talent in more than one project, but has also proven she knows how to play awkward and adorable really well. It'll be interesting to see who else is cast in this comedy, including the young Brenda. In the meantime, we'll keep our fingers crossed that things work out well for this project moving forward.